Vans Warped Tour Announces Lineup in O-Town

Local rock fans were treated to a special announcement Tuesday evening when the 2016 Vans Warped Tour lineup was revealed right here in Winter Park at Full Sail University. The event, hosted by iconic promoter, Kevin Lyman, was quite the spectacle and one hell of an exciting way to reveal this year’s powerful and diverse line-up.

Kevin Lyman with 3Oh3!’s Nathaniel Motte introducing the acts.

RARAs Farm was present as the impressive list of acts was revealed including Warped Tour veterans Good Charlotte, Sum 41, Less Than Jake, Yellowcard, New Found Glory, Reel Big Fish, Pepper, 3OH3! and many more. Lyman also revealed that over the past two years, he’s added more of a focus to today’s heavier music, spotlighted by bands such as Atreyu, Bullet For My Valentine and Motionless in White.

Lyman was joined onstage by Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte of 3OH3! throughout the evening, and the trio were entertaining and engaging all night as they weaved masterfully between stage lineup announcements and live music. The full lineup by stage is provided below, and it’s a long and impressive list.

Vans Warped Tour has become a rock music family and as Lyman noted before the event, “We have the bands that have been here before mentor the younger bands with the expectation they will pass along what they learned when the time comes.” And it works. All of the bands who play Warped Tour come back, and indeed treat each other like family. The number of repeat performers on this lineup is an impressive nod to this intense bond that all of the artists and the fans share.

It’s also worth mentioning that 90% of the bands on this year’s tour are working off of independent labels. Just another factor that leads to the strong connection between all of the artists involved.

Less Than Jake – back for their third decade of Warped Tour

I’ll have additional quotes in a separate article tomorrow, but the hundreds of invited fans or contest winners in attendance were all there to see these brief sets from unannounced bands; and speaking with them before the show, they just didn’t care who was playing. It was Vans Warped Tour, and that’s all that mattered. It’s the same reason that early bird tickets were selling well before any acts were announced.

Lyman also shared the core focus areas that drives everything the tour does: “It’s all about Fans, Bands and Philanthropy,” and then he recited a long list of the many worthwhile charities and causes that the tour supports.

Lyman also announced a Warped Tour fundraiser for the members of The Ghost Inside in the wake of their horrific bus crash in November, that left two dead, including a Warped Tour bus driver. On a warmly received positive note, he also announced that they were the first confirmed band on the 2017 Vans Warped Tour!

As part of the festivities on this night, four of this year’s acts, played short “mini-sets” for the hundreds of fans inside the fantastic Full Sail Live set for the live streamed event. The facilities at the college are first rate.

Warped Tour veterans Real Friends and Less Than Jake bookended appearances by Ocala’s Wage War, and Dash 10, a new trio from the US Army, who have a fun punk tinged pop sound. They’ll be handing out free albums throughout the tour courtesy of the Army.

Ocala’s Wage War kicked up the intensity a notch

The four bands offered a nice glimpse of the cross-section of music in store for fans during the cross-country trek. Real Friends started off with their powerful punk, followed by the more quirky poppy Dash 10. Wage War cranked it up considerable with a ferocious, loud set, before long-time Warped Tour alumni Less Than Jake sent the crowd home on a ska-infused high.

Make sure you like our Facebook Page and Follow us on Twitter below, as we will have a fan’s perspective tomorrow and a slew of pictures from the event later this week.

RARA’s Farm is a rock music blog keenly focus on sharing killer rock music info with the Rock And Roll Animals who visit our site. Make sure you Like / Follow Us below to keep in the loop on new music worth a listen.

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